Grand Galaxy
by IcEzra
Summary: A.N This follows the life of a maritime Marine named Ethan Smith who's job leads him into some pretty fun and serious situations due to his employer is the ISC (International Space Committee) a private, intergalactic recognized and respected Military Company. You will follow him and his fellow soldiers throughout the story, please enjoy.


**A.N:** Welcome to the improved Grand Galaxy

 **Grand Galaxy**

-Chapter 1: Snake in the Grass-

"Commander you have an incoming call from an Admiral Hackett." My Omni-tool flickered to life as I had just begun my platoon's regular afternoon exercises when my communications officer Roland Freemont contacted me.

"Copy that on my way." I turned to face my second Lieutenant and spoke.

"Jackson run them through the routine and get them stretched out, I'll go see what all the fuss is about." I received a curt nod from the centaur and then jogged for the communications hub. After about 10 minuets I reached the large concrete structure and opened the door.

I was greeted by what I can only call a hornet's nest, Humans, Liminals and even some Asari bustled about answering phones, reviewing data, forwarding messages, and dealing with the everyday conundrums. As I walked towards the Conference room I was rushed by my Communications Officer, Roland, who began giving me the bare minimum information he felt I needed. "Admiral Hackett is on Vid-Com and seems very anxious to speak with you sir. I haven't the slightest clue why but I'm sure he'll brief you on whatever it is once you're in the call."

I approached a set of steel doors that automatically slid open at my approach. "Thank you Roland, I can take it from here." I nodded to him and the enthusiastic young man bobbed his head before stalking off.

As I entered the room I closed the doors, locking them with a keycard that only I possessed. Being sure they were secured I turned to the 4 Holoprocters which projected real-time image of those that contacted this particular relay. I inserted my keycard into a slot and within moments the aged figure of non other than Admiral Steven Hackett manifested in a light blue translucence. "Sir." I snapped off a firm salute to the man who granted me amnesty for crimes while I still lived in Alliance space. "Ethan, you're looking well." There was something other than formalities on the wise man's mind. "Indeed, is this a social call or was my Communications officer in earnest about you being anxious to talk to me?" I cut straight to the point attempting to create an heir of professionalism, I succeeded.

"Straight to business as always, well then here is the situation. Currently in the Exodus Cluster, the colony on Eden Prime procured a Prothean Beacon-" I cut off Hackett before he could continue. "Prothean? You mean the ancient alien race that's been dead for nearly 50,000 years and leapt our technology forward 200 years when we discovered that crap on Mars?" Hackett sat there surprised at my understanding of these facts since I usually received less than optimal marks in school. "Yes, a beacon was unearthed and going to be collected by The SSV-Normandy-SR1 before they received this transmission from the planets surface."

Before I could speak the "Transmission" Hackett talked of began playing, the _video_ began with a young woman wearing a white and pink hard-suit sprinting towards a cameraman who was taping the proceedings, she pushed him to the ground ordering him down as multiple shots rang off and an explosion terminated nearby. After a few seconds of returning fire and close calls with more explosions the camera was pointed to an Alliance officer who began shouting over the chaos. "We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't…" He was cut off by an explosion that knocked him on his side and showered him in dirt before continuing. "Argh!... –eed evac! They came out of nowhere. We need—" Before he could express their needs, his voice was drowned out by a monolithic **humming** noise which almost masked the sound of the firefight occur just 10 feet away, the camera switched between the multiple soldiers who stood there, mouths agape and clearly shell shocked looking to the sky, absolutely horrified by something that couldn't be seen yet, until the camera finally turned.

In the sky, surrounded by red arcs of red electricity, was what I can only describe as a 5 tentacled squid with an elongated sleek body of metallic-looking purple, the titanic creature descended slowly until there was a bright light, 4 more successive explosions, and then the camera went static.

"Do you require my assistance?" I questioned the Admiral and he responded swiftly. "What I 'require' is another set of dependable boots on the ground for this Op. Gather a small team and make your way to the Exodus Cluster. I will contact The Normandy and inform them of your arrival." He continued.

"Double time it Marine, that's an order." I grunted and snapped off another salute "Yes Sir." Then the feed cutout.

" _I have to get there fast or that beacon is as good as lost."_ I thought as I unlocked the door and ran out of the Communications hub.

-Minuets Later-

"-And now we have to help them retrieve it." I finally finished giving my team a bear bones explanation of our current endeavor.

"So this Beacon, is it really of that great importance?" Myra asked somewhat uncertain of what this could entail. "Last time they found one our technological understanding jumped 200 years ahead of what we had originally known. So yes Myra, it is indeed." Jackson explained with a humorless voice as usual, but he was correct.

"Exactly." I remarked as we strode through the spacious halls of the ISC-Integrator eventually reaching the elevator to the CIC, which sat just before the helm of the ship where our pilot currently was flying the ship.

"COMMANDER ON DECK!" A crewmember, Ensign Darnel I realized, shouted as everyone seemed to snap to attention before holding a salute. "At ease, how's my girl doing?" I asked Darnel before I continued to the helm with him now accompanying Myra, Jackson, and Me. "Systems are running at optimal capacity, drive core is running cold at the moment but will heat once we connect with the relay. Armaments are fully stocked and prepared for delivery."

As pleasing as this news was I was more concerned for another matter. "What's our ETA to Eden Prime?"

"Once we hit the Relay, approximately 25 seconds." Darnel spoke with confidence and I was well inclined to trust him.

"Navigator Frampt, what's our way?" I turned to see a young Kobold no older than myself working feverishly over a chart with our plotted course on it attempting to calculate the fastest and safest route to the Exodus Cluster. "W-We'll b-be jumping t-t-to the Asgard Cluster first as to no-not stress our eng-gine's core. F-From there we'll make the final jump to Exodus." Frampt finally finished after scratching some notes onto the chart afore her. "Thank you, keep up the great work everyone." I said my peace and dismissed my little congregation to talk to James, our pilot.

"Howdy smart ass, how do you like your new _Leather_ seats?" I asked James as I finally accepted his request to have comfortable seats installed for long voyages.

"Hell I would hop out of this seat and kiss you but I think that's Myra's job-" From across the CIC I heard a faint " _Your damn right it is~"_ before James kept speaking. "but yes sir I appreciate you accepting the requisition of Civilian Sector comfort, this addition is going to help with my damn back so much."

"I planned on doing it on our old ship but we were getting an upgrade, why waste the credits? Besides it was definitely worth the wait huh?" I nudged his shoulder and he gave a soft chuckle, "Absolutely, and we're coming up on the Relay Sir, we'll reach Eden Prime in 5 minuets, are you guys gonna be alright? From what I heard it sounded like some heavy shit was going on down there."

"James, trust me. Jackson, Myra, and myself can match Krogan and Rachni with the augments we have. I'm by no means saying we wont come out of this unscathed, but we can retrieve one Beacon and save the Alliance's ass yet again. Alright I'm going to get us prepped in the shuttle bay, is the Quarter-Master fully stocked, I spent a fortune on some new toys I cant wait to try out."

"Yes Sir, all the supplies came in yesterday when we docked at the Citadel." "Good, I'll head down and get geared up, get us there safely Flight Lieutenant!" I called over my shoulder as I jogged back to the elevator. After what felt like 3 years of waiting the damn elevator reached the shuttle bay, the doors opened and I was met with a cacophony of noises. The sound of engines being tested and turbines cutting on and off, metal being cut with plasma cutters, bolts of rifles being racked, and the occasional dog bark of our Canine companions. As I exited the elevator I hung a left to a large room with a bearded and grizzled Veteran sitting in the middle of it.

"Erick! You old son-of-a-bitch how the hell are you!" I called out as the man turned to face me, his tattoo covered wrinkled face breaking into a smile as he strode towards me, "Ah, I'm fine ye Poxy twat, how have ye been?" I embraced the man for a second and explained our situation. "Hell you're in quite a bind then? Well I got all the beautiful shite ye could want for burnin' and blowin' crap to dust with, even that light-weight plate armor ye bought back on Earth, I've been testin' it out, an is quite the specimen. We got 20 different sets of it but why did ye need so much?" Erick wondered aloud to which I happily explained. "Well beyond the fact that it was cheap, It's actually much more durable than that damn hard-suit I used to wear. Granting me more mobility and not weighing me down. Plus since its made of ceramic based material, Omni-Gel can be used to repair it and I wont have to make the trek all the way back to Earth anytime soon." I finished and Erick just chuckled "Fair enough. Ye really did think this through didn't ye?"

"Always do. By the by where's all the stuff I put in storage?"

"Oh! I wanted te show ye that. Follow me." Erick began walking as he spoke and brought me to a room that was approximately 40x70 feet long, along both adjacent walls were 10 lockers that were about 14 feet in length and probably tucked into the wall, in the center sat multiple benches for prep. I turned my head to see the first locker was mine.

"Get ready lad, It's going to be a looker." Behind me Erick fumbled with a panel on the wall that I hadn't noticed until this point, he removed a key from his pocket and jammed it into the panel twisting as he did so. As this happened there was a metallic hiss and every locker in the room opened to reveal their contents.

He arranged everything; _my_ locker had all of my equipment.

A TRU-SPEC ACU with matching pants, my full coverage plate carrier fitted with full magazines and a drop pouch-to-boot, along with a set of black 5.11 Skyweight side zip boots.

Directly beneath all that sat my fire-arms (I.E a Cain 'Nuke Launcher', Customized AR-15, and a Paladin Hand-Cannon) and just to the right of that sat all my preferred ammo types, (Incendiary, Armor Piercing, Shock) my armor was fixed, all the recent rips and tears in the ACU were gone and that new plating I purchased now sat within the respective plate carrier. My firearms of choice also sat loaded (with the safeties on). I walked over to look at the setup and checked my watch.

"We should be making the second jump any moment n-" As I spoke the ship shuddered as we leapt across the galaxy at FTL speeds, I took a moment to stabilize myself and heard the door open behind me and Erick to see my team of two walking in.

"Spirits Erick you've been holding out on us." Myra said in a mock-offense tone as Jackson strode past her "Sir, we will be making contact with the Normandy in minuets I suggest we bear our equipment." Jackson added as he looked at the names on the lockers coming to his and smiling. "You're right gear up and head to CIC I'll meet you there directly after."

-3 minuets later-

Now fully geared up and ready for battle I strode to the bridge just as James was about to contact me. "Commander, were go for de-shock." "Count us down."

"De-shocking in 5…4…3…2…1…" As James finished speaking the blue haze that surrounded the screen before us dissipated and now allowed us to see Eden Prime, and the Normandy.

"Send out a Hailing call and flag them down. If Hackett wasn't kidding they should be expecting us."

Without a nod of conformation James opened comms and began hailing the Normandy. "SSV-Normandy, this is ISC-Integrator requesting permission to deliver ground team, over." James finished and waited 10 seconds, just as he was about to retry the comms flickered

" _ISC-Integrator this is SSV-Normandy you are cleared for delivery approach at these coordinates, how copy, over."_ As the voice finished James punched in the coordinates and spoke again "Loud and clear Normandy, over and out." James then turned to speak to me, "I would take the whole ship in but I prefer you guys take the shuttle, Angelo can fly you over." "Sure thing."

-10 minuets later-

After entering the Normandy we were guided by Captain Anderson to the ship's cargo hold where a team of 3 were waiting with who I assumed to be the Council Spectre Nihlus.

"Good now that we're all here listen up, Commander Shepard, your team's the muscle in this operation, you're to go in hard and head straight for the dig-site." Anderson said as I looked to see an elder-devil with flowing red hair and large dark red wings protruding from black N7 Armor Nod to Anderson as a second man spoke up "What about survivors Captain?"

Anderson regarded the man steadily for a second then, taking a few steps forward said, "Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The Beacon's your top priority."

(Over the Comms) The pilot now known as 'Joker' announced "Approaching drop point one." Another man turned his head to regard the Turian in black and red armor "Nihlus? You're coming with us?" Nihlus never actually looked at the man but did announce to the congregation at large "I move faster on my own." Before leaping from the Normandy.

Anderson explained his actions "Nihlus will scout out ahead. He'll be feeding you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise I want radio silence." Shepard nodded before saying "Ready and able sir. But what of _them_?" I couldn't help but notice the contempt in her voice and manor.

"Commander Smith and his team will be clearing out hostiles on a separate path to the dig site, ensuring that we can surround and eliminate any threat to the mission with the utmost prejudice." Anderson explained as he then backed up to regard both groups. "Your missions are yours now Commanders, Good Luck to all of you."

Joker came on over comms yet again and announced "We are approaching drop point 2." Moments before we felt the ship touch down.

As we exited the Normandy, gunfire filled our ears as Nihlus came onto comms, "This place got hit hard Commanders, hostiles _everywhere_ be on your guard."

I peered around and took note of our surroundings, cliff behind us, rock faces to our left and right, small hill leading down to a green lake, two bulbous floating gas creature- wait what?

Before I could announce the strange addition to our surroundings Kaidan pointed them out for me "What the hell are those?" He asked disgusted and pointing with his left hand before Jenkins explained "Gas bags. Don't worry – they're harmless." Even as he said it in unexplainable unison Shepard and I raised our sidearms and fired two rounds into each of the creatures earning us a rather loud **bang**. Kaidan's only reaction was "Damn!" and then the group just stared at us in befuddlement.

Placing my pistol back in it's holster I turned to face the group.

"Ok we have our orders, Shepard you will be taking your team left through the valley and I will take mine on the hillside to provide overwatch-" I stopped to regard Jackson who was outfitted in heavy combat armor that turned him into a juggernaut more or less. I was going to suggest something but was cut off in a rather swift fashion by Shepard.

"Look Commander…. Whatever your name is, we're the same rank you aren't going to order _Me_ and _My_ team around especially not in front of me, _You_ have _Your_ orders, _We_ have _Ours._ So I suggest you get to it." Shepard kept a neutral expression but I knew the tone all to well, she wasn't used to having her team told anything she didn't deem right, common with Devil's in general they tend to be very hell bent on leadership. "It's Smith, Ethan Smith-" As I continued talking I heard Jenkins mutter, "Did he just pull a bond?"

"And I was only going to suggest that since your squad is going in for the frontal assault you'll want a heavy hitter who can receive and deal some major punishment." Even as I said it Jackson stepped forward and donned his Mk.2 Hard-Suit helmet making sure that the dual Claymore shotguns he preferred to carry were clear and visible.

In an almost comical fashion Shepard pretended to mull this over a bit before finally saying, "He could be useful, just don't slow us down stallion." Jackson huffed before striding past, "I never have, and never will mam'"

"Before we head out I would ask to trade then, I feel Jenkins could be helpful with overwatch, not to mention I read up on the files Anderson gave me and he told me you're quite the marksman." I looked to the man who stood there looking quite apprehensive at the thought of switching teams before Shepard said "If it keeps my team from deaths door anything is possible." She then moved closer to pulling my ear to her mouth "You get my team back to me safe, if he get's injured or killed, I'll rip you limb from limb."

She then pulled away telling Jenkins to follow orders and obey my command before dragging Jackson and Kaidan down the hill to the left of the lake. I saw Myra scowl but she said nothing otherwise.

"Good, now listen up you two we'll be providing overwatch from the hilltops directly ahead, we'll have a good view of the surrounding area and the advantage of high ground giving us ample time to warn them of any coming hostiles. Am I clear?" I received two nods from both of my squad-mates and we then rushed down the hill I turned and still had a slight view of their location, I saw Shepard take a knee along with Kaidan, (Jackson knelt on his forelegs.) I called ahead on comms "Shepard hold, overwatch team is moving into position." I then turned to regard Myra and Jenkins "Up and over!" Effortlessly Myra and Myself scaled the wall in moments we looked down to see Jenkins a quarter of the way up before Myra gave me a look. "Go ahead." I sighed and she laughed. Faster than I could track she shot a web down at Jenkins which coiled around his wrist and she yanked him all the way up in a matter of seconds. Jenkins hit the ground with an "Oomph!" and then stood dusting his armor off "Thanks…" He muttered, "Anytime." Myra shot him a playful wink before hefting her sniper.

Taking position 40 odd feet above Shepard's team we scanned the surrounding area, my eyes instantly caught track of 3 dark purple shapes gliding through the air, I was just about to inform the ground team before I saw Shepard have Jackson take point, seeing no other choice I raised my rifle and fired 3 bursts at the things striking one causing it to spiral and burst into flames but unfortunately missing the other 2. They glided around the corner directly in front of Jackson and opened up on him, dozens of rounds struck his shields in a matter of seconds but they luckily held due to the extensive overclocking done on them. Seconds later Jackson raised his shotguns and fired off 2 bursts sending both things shredded and smoking to the floor. I opened comms and with worry lacing my voice said "Jackson status report!" Without a hint of pain or worry Jackson said "I'm fine sir, non of the rounds penetrated my shields and the area appears devoid of any further hostiles beyond a few gas-" As he spoke I heard Myra's sniper discharge 3 times and all the distant Gas-Bags exploded in turn. "Never mind, area clear. Over." I switched channels

"Shepard, did I make a mistake entrusting my teammate to you?" I questioned with toxicity before she responded, "You never called out any hostiles and the area appeared clear, I had Jackson take point and then they came out of nowhere. Besides Centaurs are used to this, I've fought with them before. They'll die protecting others they're very 'heroic'. Beyond that these things are machine, what in the hell are they?" I was puzzled for a moment but said, "These things are drones? Shit, proceed with extreme caution, and keep your weapons above eye level." Killing comms I told the squad behind me "Both of you keep your eyes peeled and watch their 12', move up to these coordinates." Flicking my Omni-Tool I heard 2 gentle **pings** as Myra scuttled 10 feet forward with Jenkins in tow.

As I took position ahead of them I peered around the open field and noticed all the large rocks scattered about the field, "Plenty of places to take cover" I thought just as Myra opened comms.

"Shepard you've got 3 more hostiles rounding the corner ahead take cover." Even as she said it 3 more drones flew by and began hosing the area with weapon fire. As the ground team hit cover Jenkins shouldered his rifle and fired off 2 shots, one went wide but the second found it's mark completely destroying one of the drones as I fired off 1 round from my AR knocking the drones weapon off. Shepard must have heard this as she bounced into the air spraying down the drone with her Avenger AR. She fired off another volley at the last drone but missed, leaving me to drop it easily. Folding her wings she dropped to the ground and landed gracefully.

"Damn showoff." Myra scowled as I announced "Area clear, move up."

Then thinking better I said "Shepard trade places with me, I need your agility in higher places." Taking the cue I watched as Shepard spread her wings and within 2 simply bounds reached the top of the hill. "Get down there Smith times wasting." Ignoring her snide comment I jumped off the top catching myself on the hillside, I slid for about 15 feet before leaping to a combat roll, landing unscathed. I raised my weapon and said, "Move up." as Nihlus came onto comms. "I've got some burned out buildings here Commanders. A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out, I'll try to catch up with you both at the dig site." Shepard's voice tapped comms and replied "Solid copy Nihlus, keep us posted." As we walked forward I saw a burnt corpse on the floor besides a small crate, being curious I broke it open and found a small shield capacitor, seeing future use for it I placed it in a drop pouch at my back and allowed it to disintegrate into Omni-Gel. "What was that?" I heard Kaidan ask from behind me, I turned to regard him looking down as I did so, "This pouch recycles objects into Omni-Gel for further application to other projects, such as armor repair, weapon upgrades, etcetera."

Kaidan gave the all-knowing "Oh." And referred no more to the subject.

Continuing forward we passed between two large trees and passing by multiple gas-bags as in the distance I saw 2 blue flashes erupt from the barrels of yet more drones, shots riddled the dirt around us and a few rounds rebounded off my shields as I raised my weapons to fire, unfortunately I didn't need to as Jackson hefted his Claymores and sprayed down the incoming drones causing them to have an acute case of dropping syndrome.

Shifting forward lightly on my feet I heard a gentle **Wub** from my right as I thankfully turned weapon raised to see a drone merely 3 feet from my face, I raised my rifle and flipped it into full auto as the drones turret began spinning up and managed to make it explode, shrapnel and hydraulic liquid coated me from the chest up and I gagged as some entered my mouth. "GAH! FUCK!" I hacked as I spit some onto the grass at my feet. "Smith are you alright?" I heard Kaidan ask as I wiped my gloved hand across my face looking at it and seeing a small bit of blood. "Yea ( **Cough)** … Yea I'm fine, am I bleeding?" Kaidan pulled a small cloth from a pouch I previously hadn't seen and began wiping all the crap from my face… Almost motherly in fashion. "Yea, you got tagged by some shrapnel and… oh shit you have a little stuck in your forehead." He said this as he yanked said piece from my skull causing me to wince slightly, a razor thin piece of sheet metal about 1 inch in length was now held between his thumb and fore-finger for my appraisal, I coughed once more and thanked him before reloading my rifle, it wasn't anything serious and I doubt the other team saw any of that with all these damn trees for cover, thank the Spirits…

As I said that I heard Myra come onto comms, "Boss we got a survivor over here!" Followed by the sounds of more weapon discharge, "She's getting chased by more of those Gods damned drones!" As Kaidan and I sprinted to the clearing we were able to see the soldier in Pink and white armor from the transmission Anderson showed us. She was currently being chased by 2 more drones which were attempting to riddle her with bullets, some hitting and causing her to fall forward onto her face before rolling over and disposing of both of them with a predator handgun. Then we took in the complete spectacle, to her left about 90 or so feet away stood two things with what appeared to be flashlights with bodies holding a man to a table, one of said things pressed a button that caused a massive metal spike to erupt from the table and pierce the man through the chest, raising him 10 feet off the ground, by my guess he was dead before he even reached the top. The soldier scuttled away and took cover behind two boulders; unfortunately the flashlight faces spotted her and began to converge on her location.

"Myra, Jenkins do you have eyes on those two tangos?" comms flared up and Myra responded "Negative." Followed by Jenkins "No can do boss, tree line is blocking our line of sight."

"Damn, Shepard can you get above the tree line?" From the radio I heard fierce grunts and angry curses. "No, these damn branches are stabbing my wings. I'll try to get a better view."

"Fucks sake, Kaidan, Jackson on my ass now!" Receiving two confirming nods I broke into a sprint until we were atop a miniature hill just left of the boulders where the woman stood that provided good elevation to line up some shots.

"Jackson, I want you and Kaidan to focus fire on the left one while I drop the one to the right, make sure you have disrupter rounds equipped because I got a feeling… I'll call the shot." Dropping to my stomach along with Kaidan (Jackson stood at the ready), I kept the head of the right one between my 3-pronged Acog sight and gave the count.

"3….2….1…. Drop the fuckers." In unison our guns barked, sparks flew from the barrel of my AR as shock rounds struck the 2 targets repetitively, just as I thought their shields flickered and died then caused them to shudder and drop to the ground motionless. "Targets down, reload and let's go visit our new friend." As Kaidan and I gained our feet Jackson reloaded his weapons and began to walk down the hill.

I took the time to call ahead, "Shepard, Myra, Jenkins get down here we have a friendly with some information." I received the 3-click reply as confirmation and then jogged to catch up with Jackson, Kaidan loyally on my heel.

"Thanks for your help s- Wait a minuet what the hell?!" The marine raised her weapon with the barrel fixed right between my eyes clearly prepared to shoot me.

"What the hell is the ISC doing here? You better have some goddamn answers or I'll drop you right now TALK DAMMIT!" The marine exploded in anger for what seemed like no reason even though she was clearly out gunned and most definitely outmatched.

"Stand down marine, I'm Commander Smith of the ISC-Integrator, me and my team have been…. 'Contracted' to help Commander Shepard and her team secure the Prothean Beacon that was unearthed here not that long before the attack. Now I ask you to please lower your weapon or my associates might not tolerate your actions any further." Listening to my words she glanced at Jackson and scowled, face lined with disgust, "You think I'm scared of this _Freak-Show,_ and where the hell's the Commander huh?" Then she looked to Kaidan, "Is that N7 armor?" Kaidan glared at her for a moment before answering, "Yes and you just insulted a Superior, now we will ask you once again to lower your weapon" Kaidan raised his Avenger to eye level, "Or have it lowered for you." The hotheaded Gunny, now seeing reason lowered her weapons with a sigh "Sorry Sir" she snapped off a salute "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. So you're the one in charge here Sir?"

Her query was directed at me but she scanned the hills and my team with watchful eyes.

"Officially no, that would be Shepard, I'm just the guy that makes sure her and her team doesn't die, but are you wounded Williams?"

In a professional manner I scanned her body looking for any signs of injury, finding none I returned my eyes to hers, locking gazes.

"Nothing major beyond a few scrapes and bruises, unfortunately the others weren't so lucky." She reminisced in a calm manor then began venting, "Oh man…. We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call-" (The video we saw aboard the Normandy and back on Tracer) "-but they cut our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

Peering around I assumed the worst but wished to have hope with my next words, "Where's the rest of your squad?" At that she shook her head, "We tried to double back for the beacon but we walked into an ambush…. I don't think any of the others… I… I think I'm the only one left." Her voice slightly broke at that and I was quick to reassure her "It's not your fault, Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them." She raised her head slightly and then said "Yes, Sir. We held our position as long as we could, but the Geth overwhelmed us." I stopped for a second "Pardon me Williams? _Geth_?"

"Yes Sir. You've never heard of them?" I held up a hand and walked over to one of the corpses rolling it over onto its back, looking over the features (and bullet holes) I saw a single, now dim, photoreceptor, synthetic muscle tissue, white conductive fluid pooling beneath the corpse, and fuck tons of wires and hoses strewn throughout its insides. "Son of a bitch" I muttered aloud to nobody in particular as I contacted Shepard "Shepard we're dealing with Geth, so be on your lookout for Snipers and Rocket troopers, more than likely Destroyers as well.

Behind me I heard a voice call out from the tree line, "We're here numb nuts!" I turned to see Shepard, Myra, and Jenkins striding out of the tree line covered in dirt and white conductive fluid, Jenkins had a damn limp. "Christ sakes what the hell happened to you?" Kaidan jogged over to patch up his teammate as Myra strode over to me. "Gods don't ever make me worry like that again." As she strode over and embraced me, weapon dangling from a sling at her shoulder, I took note of the disgusted look on the Gunny's face. She must not like Liminals. But that theory changed when Shepard approached.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams?" Shepard asked as to the Gunny snapped to attention, "At ease" then she relaxed. Myra whispered into my ear, and consequently my mic, "Wow just like a Turian pulling the stick out of its ass." My comms cracked to life and Nihlus groaned, "Spirits is that truly what you humans think of Turians?"

We ignored this and continued talking to the Gunny.

"So what happened here Williams?" Shepard asked as Williams re-ran the whole harrowing tale.

"You certainly have been through a lot Williams, I would expect you to receive a commendation for this." Shepard appeared to genuinely compliment the Gunny as Williams nodded vigorously, "Yes Mam', we held our position as long as we could. Until the Geth overwhelmed us." I took note that she literally just changed her spiel with the word mam' but said nothing. Then Kaidan spoke up, "Wait a second the Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly 200 years. Why in the hell are they here now?" Williams took a clear shot in the dark and said, "They must've come for the beacon. The dig site is close. Just over that rise. It might still be there." I perked up and racked my rifle chambering a round, "We appreciate the help Williams, would you care to join us? An extra gun couldn't hurt." The Gunny appeared to think hard for a second before deciding, "Aye, Aye, Sir. It's time for some payback."

"Roger that Gunny, Ok everybody heard her so listen up. We're splitting into 3 teams, Shepard you lead one group, I'll lead another, and Jackson you'll lead one as well. Shepard your team will head for the dig sight and look for the researchers, if you find them squeeze as much information as you can out of them and report what you find. Jackson your team will search around for any survivors and lead them back to these coordinates for exfil." I tapped my Omni-Tool a few times and Jacksons flashed green for a split second as he nodded. "And as for my team we're going to the cargo station, I get a feeling that's where Nihlus will be waiting and there are a few things I want him to clear up before this is over." As we split into teams I decided to take the Gunny with me, I felt she didn't care much for Jackson and Shepard wouldn't keep an actual eye on her so I took her, Jackson took Jenkins and Kaidan while Myra and Shepard went to the dig site.

As we began to move out I saw another box sitting on the ground and cracked it open finding more useful shit that I could break down into better shit, so I dropped it into my pouch and watched as it melted into Omni-Gel. "Ok come on Williams." With my rifle shouldered but not leveled we walked towards the Cargo station, while we walked I felt the Gunny burning with the urge to say something, as if there was a physical force being used to hold whatever she wanted to say in. "Yes Gunny? You have all the permission you could want to speak around me, speak freely."

"What? Well…. Look sir I just want to know, why the hell do you tolerate those… those _things_ , I understand Shepard, she's no different than you or me just with harder skin but that Centaur and that Disgusting spider woman jus-" She hadn't finished speaking but the mention of Myra made me whirl on her. "Gunny, allow me to make one thing clear, you can insult me all you want and Jackson couldn't give two shits on a Saturday if you insulted him, we're used to it by now, but if you _EVER_ refer to my girlfriend as disgusting again I will shoot out your kneecaps and watch you crawl away screaming in agony do I make myself clear?" I towered over the gunny and was much larger in frame than she was so naturally when I stopped and balled my fists before her she jumped and tumbled backwards. Her rifle fell from her grasp and I yanked her to her feet by her armor pulling her to my face and repeating my question, slower, " _DO. . ?"_ Clearly shocked and thoroughly intimidated she nodded vigorously before I dropped her to the ground again. "Good, then pick up you fucking rifle and watch your mouth, speak freely and keep others in mind. And for your information, those ' _things'_ are far more human than most of the shitty people I've known most of my life, that most definitely includes you."

Ashley stood and dusted herself off retrieving her firearm from the floor before jogging to keep up with me. She held her tongue but I wanted to clear the air as to not let her resentment fester, "I apologize for my outburst, but the ones you call 'things' are actually considered humans along side us, and they are in my eyes. So don't judge someone because they're different, judge them on their merit and character. Treat assholes like assholes and Good people like gods, because they're that rare to come by nowadays." Within three minuets we reached a metal overlook that gave us a clear view to the Cargo station. And what I saw made my skin crawl, the massive ship from the video, was floating above the colony high in the sky completely surrounded by a flowing red electrical current, it sat there thrumming for a time before I decided it was for the best to ignore it and focus on the mission.

Grabbing a mask that was folded in a pouch at my waist I pulled the synthetic hood over my head and connected a cable to a small power pack that hung at my lower back. Under a second later my H.U.D flickered to life and I received updated views of things, the distance from our position to the Platform was 263m and there were 2 organics moving about in plain view, and more of those spike table things with…. Blue people on them? Back to the organics, one was pacing back and forth to which I took immediate notice. The one whom was pacing was a Turian in a sliver hardsuit with a synthetic left arm; I didn't recognize him at all. However the second organic, was also a Turian wearing a Black and Red hardsuit that I recognized immediately as Nihlus. "There he is, that's Nihlus." I pointed for the Gunny's benefit and said "Let's get down there he's probably- wait, wait, wait."

"What?" The Gunny questioned, "Trouble?" She asked readying her weapon. "Yes but not in the way we'd expect." Ashley gave me a questioning look, "What the hell does that mean?" I elaborated on my seemingly senseless babbling. "Captain Anderson informed us that Nihlus is the only Spectre that was here on the Council's orders, nobody else except them and us received the news of this beacon being found. So why would a random Turian and from the looks of him-" My H.U.D began running an identification software that was hooked into the Shadow Broker's data base and it confirmed my suspicions, "Yep, that's Saren, the Human hating Turian." The Gunny still didn't understand, "And?" She asked as I continued, "Why is a Turian who hates Humans on a Human Colony uninvited where a Prothean Beacon was uncovered?" At that, understanding flickered on the Gunny's face and I activated by Helm's vid recorder, just in case…. As I was just flicking on my comms I studied the situation and watched Nihlus approach Saren nonchalantly, I had a bad feeling about this so I dropped flat and took aim with my rifle, lining up a shot on Saren, "What are you doing?" Ashley asked incredulously, "Insurance, I don't like the look of this." Even as I lined up the chest shot on Saren Nihlus turned his back, camera still going with audio activated I watched as Saren pulled his sidearm on the unsuspecting Nihlus and just as I pulled the trigger on him the Gunny smacked my guns barrel and the shot dipped knocking the firearm from Saren's hand and causing the firearm to discharge besides Nihlus's head instead of directly behind it.

"ASHLEY YOU ALMOST GOT A SPECTRE KILLED!" I shouted at the Gunny as she pointed her Avenger at me. "What are you talking about you almost shot a spectre!" Scoping in again I looked to see Nihlus fighting Saren, from the looks and sounds of it I also blew off a finger or two. The bellowing from Saren as he fought Nihlus was certainly an indication; I was just about to pull the trigger when Ashley decided to kick the barrel of my gun again, "Ashley Saren is trying to KILL Nihlus and you're about to help him succeed!" The Gunny looked at me confused before asking, "What are you talking about? They're jus-" Ashley then shifted her gaze to the two Turians to see them engaged in hand to hand combat, "Son of a bitch.." Ashley muttered as I stood up and opened comms and began running for them, "ALL UNITS, CONVERGE ON THE CARGO STATION A ROUGE SPECTRE IS TRYING TO KILL NIHLUS!" I didn't have time to listen to the questions issued from all the separate channels since I saw Nihlus was slowly getting his ass kicked the longer the fight carried on. As I continued sprinting full speed down hill to the station, Saren clearly took notice as he then kicked Nihlus in the chest sending him sprawling backwards as he bolted for the cargo transporter. As I reached the platform I sprinted past Nihlus who was stuck on his back like a ladybug and charged Saren. Unfortunately the fucker hit the panel faster than I could run and in a desperate attempt to catch the fucker I leapt after the platform missing by mere inches and crashing chest first into one of the track beams. Clinging on for dear life as the ground was a good 100 odd feet below, swaying slightly I threw one leg over the beam and gained my feet.

Growling in anger I punched the track with all the force I could muster and luckily not breaking a finger, "son of a bitch" I muttered then bellowed as loud as I could after the transporter, "YOU CHICKEN SHIT SON OF A BITCH!" I doubt my petty insults were heard but it was more for my benefit if anything. Standing up and brushing myself off I turned and climbed back onto the platform, grunting with slight effort and a sore chest I came face to face with my whole team.

"The situations changed." I sighed walking over to Nihlus, who was still struggling to roll upright, I walked over and helped him up.

"That bastard… that Spirits damned snake! He tried to shoot me in the back while we talked!" Nihlus was positively fiery, clenching his fists and mandibles clicking. As a sign of faith I patted his shoulder and said, "I know I knocked his shot off so your brains aren't coating the crates and floors. He isn't getting away with this though, when we return to the Citadel we can show _this_ to the Council." Activating my Omni-Tool I pulled up a video file hit play, the video started with Ashley and I sitting at the top of the overlook scanning the area and noticing Nihlus and Saren. It has our full conversation and my deduction of the situation, the view of the affair lowers to me on my stomach and the Acog lined on Saren's head. We watched as Saren pulled his gun and as I had my aim knocked off causing the round meant for his head to knock the gun out of Saren's hands. Then Ashley and I argued, and then I sprinted down the hill whilst shouting into my Comms, and then me falling and cursing at Saren. "Beyond the petty insults this will suffice as evidence enough."

As Nihlus said this I heard a scraping noise coming from behind a set of crates to my left, apparently my team did as well since we all turned and raised our weapons in unison.

"Get out here, now!" I shouted as I drew my Paladin from its holster, holding my aim true just above the crates. After a second, a rather frightened man hopped up and begged, "Please! Don't shoot! I-I'm not one of them—I'm human." He had his hands raised and eyes clenched shut before Shepard growled, "What the hell were you doing behind the boxes.." The man began explaining how he was there since before the attack, apparently he was hiding there to catch a few z's so he could make it through his shift, and Ashley seemed to take exception to this, "So you survived because your lazy. You make me sick." The man had no response save to lower his head so I asked the more pressing question, "We're looking for the Beacon, I assume you know of which I speak?" The man nodded, "Yea, they brought it here this morning, we loaded it on the train and shipped it to the second platform." He then tensed up a bit before saying, "I- I need to get away from all this…" Then turned away and disappeared behind the platform.

"Right, so it looks like w-" Shepard was about to say before Nihlus shouted "GETH INBOUND!" followed by the impact of high velocity plasma rounds on the steel platform. I dove right shouting as I did so, "HIT COVER!" though it was obvious I decidedly felt it was necessary. The rounds were coming from the waiting platform; apparently the Geth had taken one Transport back to deal with us, no doubt sent my Saren. Risking a peak out I spotted 6 in total, 1 destroyer flanked by two pristine white Geth and then 3 holding a guard position along the platform. "Pick your shots, Shepard get a line up on that destroyer, use disruptor rounds! Everyone else target the Geth flanking it on my mark!" As I started the countdown I switched magazines to high impact cartridges, "3….2….1….. NOW!" I popped out of cover in exact unison with the rest of the squad and sprayed the destroyer, as expected the high impact rounds struck the destroyer's chest its aim was knocked off. Just in time to as the concussive shot that would've taken my head off went high and struck the hill behind us. As this happened Shepard fired a whole magazine of disruptor rounds effectively cutting its shields, now exposed, the HIR's absolutely shredded its body. Making short work of its compatriots the group changed targets to the destroyer. Within seconds its arms were amputated and its head exploded when Myra shot it with her sniper, sufficiently fucked we ceased fire and reloaded. I hopped over cover and sprinted to a barrier at the waiting platform, sliding behind it then loading in a fresh magazine taking note that I only had 10 full magazines left, 3 disruptor, 5 regular lead, and 2 more high impact, solid. Loading in a disruptor clip I turned to see Ashley and Nihlus getting into cover across from me, and then an idea popped into my head, "Give me covering fire!" Nihlus was obviously concerned about my plan but did a fantastic job of hiding it, "Watch your ass. Get ready." He calmly called as I shot him a nod and slipped out of cover, in a fluid motion I tucked and rolled avoiding a spray of plasma rounds before finding my feet and sprinting low so my chest hung mere inches above my knees and my gun raised flat just above my head. Realizing this was smart as bullets whizzed by and only 2 or 3 rebounded off my shields, I continued for a good 12 feet and then rolled behind another raised barrier. The last 3 Geth were only 10 feet away now and I could more than likely handle them close quarters, shields don't stop hand to hand combat and I wanted to try out these new gauntlets I purchased. I heard a rather distinct buzzing and then electrical crack only to see Jenkins at the other end of the platform loading another round into his sniper, then Ashley popping the thermal clip on her Viper. Looking back I wondered where the hell she got it from… Realizing there was only one hostile left I hopped the barrier and charged it, it was behind cover so I reached over, grabbing it by its head and yanked it over, this had the effect of causing it to drop its weapon and gave me ample time to "test" my gauntlets.

Cocking back my right arm I threw a hard right that shattered the Geth's photoreceptor, now that it was sufficiently blinded I gave it a swift uppercut with my left dislodging some tubing on its neck which sprayed viscous white fluid across my chest and face then reaching down at my boot I pulled out a 10inch K-bar and jammed it directly through its central processing unit, which coincidentally was in its head. The unit slumped to the floor and I took note of its weapon, wiping my knife on a cloth and returning it to its sheath I looked over the barrier and grabbed its rifle, in my hands the weapon felt awkward, as it was meant for Geth hands, and since Geth were created by Quarians it was meant for their hands as well, IE 3 fingers not 5. As a joke I parted my middle and ring fingers then intertwined my middle with my index and my ring with my pinky, then tried holding it, it now fit my hands perfectly. "Mo-ther Fucker." I mumbled in comical bemusement as I then scanned the rifle with my Omni-Tool. It was then that everyone approached.

"You alright there boss?" Kaidan called out. "What the hell was that?" Ashley asked as I turned to see Jackson pull out a bloodstained notepad from a pocket in his Plate carrier, we had a bet currently going but you'll learn of that later, 'Then why mention it?' because fuck you that's why.

With the scan complete I haphazardly tossed the gun to the floor. I was immediately met with giggles and chuckles from the group at large, including Myra and Shepard giggling, even Kaidan and Jenkins were laughing. "What?" they ignored my query and kept laughing, "What, what's happened?" Myra started gasping for air and Ashley doubled over. "Ok what the fuck is so funny, I just beat a robot to death, yes it was exhilarating but why funny?" "It isn't that." Jenkins chuckled shaking his head as Kaidan stared shaking. Then I remember the viscous fluid on my Tac-Mask, I pulled up my Omni-Tool and looked at myself in a camera, even with my mask on, I looked like I had just exited a massive Bukkake ring and I was rather popular. "Oh fucks sake…." I muttered as a large gob of the fluid dropped from my chin causing everyone except Nihlus and Jackson exploded with laughter. "I don't understand." Nihlus said simply over the cackling group, " The enemy is dead, how was it amusing?" Myra was going to explain but then appeared to think better of it continuing to laugh; thankfully Nihlus didn't pursue the endeavor and simply shrugged before stepping onto the transport. I followed directly behind him after removing my Tac-Mask, as to preserve whatever dignity life hasn't sucked out of me. The others followed in short order and once we were all on Nihlus hit the activation panel causing the transport to shudder then begin to slide along the rail system easily.

"Smith I forgot to tell you this, earlier at the research camp one of the scientists mentioned a Turian called him "The Prophet" and said he was here before the attack." Shepard said, I turned to Nihlus and said, "You were with us before it, so he was probably talking about Saren. Did the scientists say anything else?" Shepard pondered hard for a moment before saying, "There were two, a male and a female, but the female said that he was off his meds, but even then he was right about Saren more or less." I nodded in agreement, "Possibly a schizophrenic? I wondered aloud. "I would say so." Shepard finished.

Five minuets passed and we were finally pulling into the second stop of our adventure, "Weapons at the ready." Shepard ordered, and I listened for principal sake. "Ill take point I announced stepping off the transport then noticing a strange device to my left, "Oh Gods they planted demo charges!" Kaidan yelled as I immediately ran over to it. I knew how to disarm it, it would only be a matter of how many were there. "I got this one, fan out and make sure this is the only one!" I opened my Omni-Tool and began to work.

Shepard shouldered her rifle and ran up the walkway with her small unit in tow (Their small unit?). It was a rather odd thing to her, she had come to accept that Ethan was a good leader and a very skilled risk taker, but he had more or less taken this operation from her hands and made it his own somehow. Which in the end didn't matter to her, she was already placed for a commendation as a council spectre and with this mission complete she had it in the bag, though many more were most certain to come. As the unit came to the top of the walkway Shepard immediately took notice of a small unit of Geth across the bridge to her left, they had dug themselves back into a rather defensible position, 2 small hexagonal shields floated a foot or 2 above the ground emanating a flowing bright blue light, directly besides thick steel shipping containers that their weapons would most definitely not punch through. Turning to her right she saw a pair Geth attempting to flank across the bridge, without hesitation she leapt high in the air and sprayed a barrage of lead at the two robotic antagonists, within moments their shields were down and they dropped a second later as the team now below Shepard effectively fired their weapons into the center mass of their targets.

Up above I head the pound of something hard hit metal then the flap of wings, then followed by the rapid fire of an Avenger AR. Drowning out the noise I scanned the bomb and found it had an electronic timer, noting that these were extremely frail mechanisms I used my Omni-Tools micro fabricator to coat the trigger mechanism in a thick layer of Omni-Gel before splitting it in half, effectively rendering this bomb, useless. Now complete I ran up top with my team, everyone had just begun crossing the bridge and I saw Shepard doing strafing runs high above a group of 3 Geth at the far end. I sprinted across the bridge weaving past my team as they laid down covering fire for Shepard, I notice Ashley hovering over a bomb with Kaidan at her side directing her on what to do. Seeing they were fine I continued running and slammed chest-first into a Shock-trooper. Not knowing how to react to the situation the Geth fumbled for a second before realizing I was a hostile, it attempted to raise its rifle but the notion was cut short when I pulled my Paladin from its holster and fired 3 consecutive shots into the underside of its lamp. The body went still and I stood once more then ducked right to get behind cover, I then noticed a bomb to my left and groaned in annoyance, "How many of these fucking things are there!" I shouted as I saw Myra and Jackson pushing up after me, Myra was above the battlefield, standing atop the wall to my left with Jenkins beside her, both snipers were taking aim at the Geth further down the line and I saw Shepard dive down into a crowd of 3, though saw I could see no more past that. Crossing to the bomb I watched as Jackson sprinted past me horse legs pumping as he reared back on his hind legs and crushed the chest of one Geth unit under his hoof then fired of 4 shots with his Claymores disabling another 2 units. Kaidan and Ashley finished with their bomb and I think Shepard took care of the Geth she had dove for so I sprinted forward charging past Jackson, I noticed a walkway to my left and a bridge to my left and directly in front of me sat a very dirty Shepard covered head to toe in the viscous white conductive fluid. Seeing the final charge I directed Kaidan and Ashley to it as they walked passed Shepard and I to take care of it, laughing, I might add. "Karma's a bitch ain't she?" I teased earning me a growl from the Elder Devil, "Bite me Smith." She snarled as to which I could only reply, "Anytime, just clean up first I prefer to make my own messes, not coat myself in others." I smiled and shot her a playful wink. She was about to say something else but I heard the clicking of Chitin legs on metal and saw that Myra and Jenkins had come off their little sniper perch. "Was that all th- WOW WHAT THE FUCK?!" Jenkins was about to ask before he saw Shepard's current state. From behind Shepard I heard Kaidan bark out laughter and Ashley snort a few times. "Damn, karma's a bitch."

Myra snickered and then I added, "I know right?".

"Bombs disabled Sir, and Mam'." Ashley called as her and Kaidan came to stand besides Shepard who then walked away towards the walkway to my left, weapon holstered. I jogged after her still chuckling slightly to myself.

"Don't worry Shepard we're just fucking with you, ya'll just did the same thing to me less than 20 minuets ago." I tried consoling her but she just let out a slight huff and started saying, "I don't need your sympathy, I'm just slightly annoy-" before I jumped in front of her taking a spray of Plasma that drained my shields and struck my plate carrier. "NGH!" I grunted as one of the rounds actually grazed my ribs, clearly exposing them to daylight. I pushed Shepard forward into cover before sprinting forward and landing on my back. Looking at my side the round had actually grazed deep, taking a fair bit of flesh with it, I took a small canister form my Carrier and opened it allowing a small application of medi-gel to land on the seared, bleeding wound. I gasped a little as the pain began dissipating, then Shepard appeared besides me, "You alright Smith?" She asked as she fired a burst off at the two Geth who were currently suppressing us from behind a set of crates. "Yea I'm fine" I grunted "Just grazed me is all, shit we shouldn't have let our guards down what kind of fucking rookie bullshit-" I was about to say before I saw to thin blue creatures clamber over the railing to my left.

I drew my Paladin as I said, "What the fuck are those!?" Shepard turned to see what I saw and groaned, "Fucking husks!" As she turned and began opening fire on the pair of blue, now that I take the time to look extremely humanoid creatures that started to shamble in our direction. Ignoring the raw feeling at my side I stood and shouted, "DEAL WITH THE GETH!" as I tackled the pair to the floor. Now very close I saw that they had gaping holes straight through the centers of their chests, then I dawned on me, those people on the spikes, the Geth turned humans into monsters. As I thought of morning the poor bastards now pinned beneath me one of them grabbed my ACU and yanked hard causing me to fall on my side and now giving them an advantage, they may be thin but these fuckers are strong, a little further away I heard distant gunshots and then an explosion. Returning my focus to the two blue fucks on top of me I was effectively pinned beneath them, like hounds their teeth gnashed mere inches from my face. I toyed with the idea of pushing them then grabbing my Paladin but that would take to much time to pull it form its holster, then I remembered that my K-Bar sits idly loose in its sheath mustering as much force as I could I flung both of the two 'Husks' off of me and grabbed the knife from my boot, the one I pushed right recovered forth and started charging me again within seconds so as he tried to grapple me again I bobbed left, avoiding his hands and plunged the knife into its throat, wrenching it around before pulling it out. The body slumped to the floor coating my hand in a thick black liquid that I couldn't identify at the moment, then the second one charged me and I just gave it a boot to the skull, easily collapsing it and spraying more black liquid everywhere. I looked up to see Shepard being choked by a Geth destroyer, it had one hand on her throat and the other putting a rifle to her stomach, without thinking I charged the destroyer and lifted it slightly, the Geth didn't know how to respond so it dropped Shepard causing her to fall to the floor gasping, once Shepard was no longer in harms way I began running with the Destroyer in my grasp and bulled it into a wall, cracking something on its body. Before the Geth could make a move I shoved my knife into its chest then yanked it out and spinning in a 360* arc that terminated with the knife driving blade first into the destroyers central processor.

Gasping for air and heavily spent from that exertion I turned to see Shepard still on the ground staring at me wide eyed. Gulping in oxygen I spat out, "You ok?" She looked at me for a second before shaking herself out of her little trance and said "(Clears throat) Yes I am fine." I sighed, "good" then I extended my hand "Then get your ass up Commander you're sending a bad message to the troops." She actually smiled and took my hand. Behind me I heard a gentle **wubbing** noise and turned to see what we have been trying to find this whole damn time, the Prothean Beacon was sat merely 15 feet away, firing a small beam of green light up into the air like, well a beacon.

Back at the walkway, Ashley, Kaidan, Jenkins, Jackson, and Myra discovered there was one more bomb that sat across a small bridge tucked under the staircase, as they defused it a sizable Geth force had ambushed them and had them pinned for a time, until Jackson used my Cain to obliterate them all.

"Hey bosses!" Jenkins called "You guys will never belie- What in the hell?" The whole team ran over to Shepard and I when they saw the carnage surrounding us, "What in the heck happened here?" Kaidan asked in some minor shock, "Are you guys ok?"

I looked him in the eyes and said "Yea were alright, I took a round or two to my side" I gestured to my blood soaked ACU, "And Shepard almost got het head taken off that destroyer" I gestured to the limp form of the Geth Destroyer "but other than that were fine."

Jackson stepped forward and examined the corpse, "Are those knife wounds?" He asked me, smiling I turned to him and said " What's my score again?" At that, Jackson grabbed that bloody notepad and said "496" I whooped loud and said "BIG GUYS ARE WORTH 2 POINTS AND I KILLED 2 LITTLE GUYS OVER THERE! 500 HAND TO HAND KILLS EQUALS 1 KEG OF RYNCOL!" I cheered loud and clapped twice causing Kaidan to mutter, "Hold still" while he examined my ribs. "Now hold on, there is no proof that 'this'" Jackson pointed to the Destroyer, "Was you." I turned to Shepard and so did Jackson, "Shepard, did I or did I not kill this Destroyer with a knife" I pulled out my K-Bar, "this knife to be exact."

After a moment Shepard turned to Jackson and said, "Sorry big guy, you owe him a keg of Ryncol." Jackson stamped his hoofs and bellowed, "SPIRITS BE DAMNED!" I just laughed.

10 feet away Ashley was examining the Beacon slowly inching closer and closer without completely knowing why, for some reason it felt like the beacon was just beckoning her to it, calling wordlessly for her to see what secrets it may hold. She examined it for a second noticing how it had changed, it was never glowing green when it was dug up "What activated it?" she though still edging ever closer.

Shepard cleared her throat and then announced, "Ill call ahead to the Normandy for a pick up then we can all get the hell out of here."

As she walked off I heard her say, "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac." I turned and saw Ashley nearing the Beacon as I heard Shepard continue, "Roger, Normandy. Standing by."

What happened next happened to fast for me to recall clearly, one second the beacon flashed, the next Ashley was being dragged toward it, after that I was on my feat, and then I rushed to her and threw her backwards. She landed on her ass with a thud and then I was suspended in the air, I felt something grab my waist but it was immediately forgotten as my senses were overloaded as the Beacon flooded my brain with images. I couldn't tell what they were or what was happening but I felt all kinds of emotion, fear, desire, dread, anger, all these things pounding into my mind then suddenly without warning the Beacon exploded and everything went black. The last sounds I heard were the voices of Myra and Ashley yelling.

 **A.N-** **And that's the true first chapter of Grand Galaxy finished, sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with work and some other rather interesting things (my relationship). Those and some heavy procrastination on my part, but don't worry when I hop back into the saddle I can start getting shit done. I hope you all like the way I'm taking this story. I plan on fitting Tracer Island and the ISC well into the events of Mass Effect 1 as well as All the participants throughout the game.**

 **MY piece is said, if you have any feedback or ideas for the story I would love to hear and implement them, please feel free to PM me, or just post In the feedback section.**

 **Love you all and Party on,**

 **IC**


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